Innholdsfortegnelse for February 9, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

YOUTUBE GOES PAID YouTube is getting into the paid subscription business, setting the stage for disruption across a number of sectors. The site, which has invested heavily in original content in recent years, will now compete more directly than ever with established players Hulu, Netflix and cable companies. Early estimates suggest YouTube could charge between $1 and $5 per month for access to content from certain premium partners. Whether YouTube users, who have become accustomed to watching free, ad-supported content for years, will take to a paid experience is the milliondollar question. CHALLENGING TIMES Things are chilly in the videogame industry, with Nintendo and Electronic Arts turning in lowerthan-expected results for the fourth quarter. EA, the second-largest game maker in the United States, projects $1 billion-$1.1 billion in revenue for…

President, AEG/Ehrlich Ventures As executive producer of the Grammy Awards, Ken Ehrlich oversees every element of the show. Thirteen days before the telecast (which will be his 32nd), this was his workday preparing for the 55th annual Grammys. 7.30 AM I had tweaked the rundown over the weekend and during the drive from my Thousand Oaks, Calif., home to the office in Encino I spoke with [Recording Academy president/CEO] Neil Portnow about his speech. 9.30 AM My first conference call was with Alicia Keys and Adam Levine. Over the weekend, we had decided on a mash-up of “Daylight” and “Girl on Fire.” I had spoken with Alicia at the [Obama] inaugural and had [Virgin’s] Ron Fair do a scratch track as a demo. 10.00 AM Brian Stonestreet, our scenic designer,…

Bob PittmanCEO, Clear Channel What did you wake up thinking about this morning? I usually start organizing my day, thinking of the strategic issues and big meetings I need to attend. I typically fire off about 10 emails asking questions. I think of questions as I’m coming out of the shower. Sometimes when I can’t sleep I send emails asking questions at 3 or 4 in morning. Describe a lesson you learned from a failure. Probably half the decisions we make on a day-to-day basis are failures. It’s about making constant and quick decisions, not falling in love with your decisions. Be willing to change them when you’re wrong. Have an expectation that you’re going to be wrong half the time and have a bias toward quick decision-making. It’s impossible…

Retail sales in the United Kingdom last month bounced to their highest levels in three years, cushioning the initial blow of mega-retailer HMV’ Jan. 15 announcement that it was going into administration (the U.K. version of bankruptcy). U.K. music fans, apparently spurred into action by the threat of losing the retailer, upped sales by 11.6% in the wake of the news, according to the Entertainment Retailers Assn. The boost is likely temporary, however, and the jubilee could die down as concurrent “Blue Cross Sale” discounts expire. HMV’s debt is now owned by restructuring group Hilco UK, which is working with administrator Deloitte to devise a plan to bring the company back from the brink. Layoffs among the retailer’s 4,000-strong workforce and closures of some of its 223 stores remain widely…

Live-music discovery site Songkick is rolling out a new platform, Detour, that will allow fans who want a band to come to their town to put their money where their “online commenter” mouth is. Launched in 2007, London-based Songkick provides personalized news about live music events, allowing fans to track groups and receive email alerts when a band they like is playing nearby. The Detour concept essentially boils down to fans pledging to buy tickets before a show is conf rmed, potentially lessening the possibility of a band playing to sparse crowds, mitigating risk for promoters and venues. Songkick test-marketed Detour in 2012, and is now scaling out the model in London this year, with visions of going global. With the growth of fan-driven investment platforms like Kickstarter, and people…

While on the road playing Australia’s Big Day Out festival, Austin-based Gary Clark Jr. checked in with Billboard to give us the low-down on how he travels in style—something he should know a thing or two about. The esteemed blues guitarist, whose effortless cool landed him an ad campaign alongside Jimmy Page for John Varvatos this winter, has been zigzagging across the globe in support of his much buzzed-about Warner Bros. debut, Blak and Blu, released in October. Here, his touring must-haves. Trusted battle ax “My Cassie, the Red Epiphone Casino. It’s my main-squeeze guitar. She’s been out of commission lately, but I’ve brought her back.” Portable speaker “The Beacon Audio Phoenix is the best. This little cube produces the best sound for a mobile speaker device. And it operates…

On Internet service providers: “The thing that puzzles me still about this huge question is why the technology companies—to describe them in a generic way, but I include the ISPs, manufacturers of the machines, the Googles and so on—why are they not more far-sighted? Why are they not more generous? Why are they not bringing the things they really do understand—and they’re incredibly clever people with enormous resources— why are they not trying to solve the future in a more generous way? Ultimately it is in their interest that the fow of content will continue, and that won’t happen unless it’s paid for. Though there is some improvement in the digital environment in terms of people getting paid, the vast majority of content distributed through their pipes is not paid…

The Korean giant is following a path made by Sony and apple by building out a media platform. It’ll be hoping to replicate the success of the iPhone maker By andrew Hampp For what has historically been a music conference, MIDEM 2013 resembled the Consumer Electronics Show at times. Executives from Nokia, Google and even the chief technology officer of Ford appeared on panels at the Debussy Auditorium, and talk of connected devices and the future of the mobile industry’s impact on music permeated throughout. But most notable for its presence this year was Samsung, whose executives appeared in two of the conference’s most talked-about discussions. The journey from hardware company to content firm can be treacherous, as many tech brands have ramped up their efforts to duplicate the success…

It’s rare enough that anyone makes a film about a recording studio, but at the Sundance film festival there were two, Dave Grohl’s “Sound City” and Greg Camalier’s “Muscle Shoals.” Both films were by first-time directors and both captured a specific time and place in american musical culture. unlike “Sound City,” “Muscle Shoals” doesn’t have a distributor. Dan braun, co-founder of Submarine entertainment, the sales agent for “Muscle Shoals,” says several distributors are circling the film. “The exuberant reaction at the premiere with a sold-out show, lines around the block and two standing ovations makes us confident to say that we feel a sale is imminent,” he says. “Muscle Shoals” focuses primarily on rick Hall and his faMe (florence alabama Music enterprises) Studios that opened in 1959, moved two years…

Forty albums. Multiple awards, including an Oscar, Emmy and Pulitzer. The respect and adoration of his classical music peers. A slot on People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People list. With all that, it would seem that virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell is out of summits to reach. But the 45-year-old Bloomington, Ind., native embarked on a new adventure in 2011, when he was named music director of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the venerable British orchestra with which he frst played at age 18. Now, his frst recording as head of the ensemble, Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 7, is due Feb. 12 on Sony Masterworks. “If you’ve never heard ‘Beethoven 7,’ it’s probably one of the most exciting pieces of music ever written. When you reach the end you feel like…

Allons-y: brooklyn act Autre ne Veut will tour north America with Majical Cloudz supporting. booked by Carter Adams at the Windish Agency, shows begin in Philadelphia at Johnny Brendas (Feb. 26), followed by santos Party House in new york (Feb. 27), schuba’ in chicago (march 2), Barboza in seattle (march 8), the Troubadour in los Angeles (march 12) and Austin’s south by southwest (march 13-18). HoP To IT: in support of Pedestrian Verse (Feb. 5, Fat Cat Records), scottish group Frightened Rabbit will tour the united Kingdom and united states. booked by steve strange at X Ray Touring (united Kingdom) and Tim Edwards at Flower Booking (united states), the act will play Waterfront in norwich, england (Feb. 8), HMV Forum in london (Feb. 13), Gorilla in manchester (Feb. 22) and…

Atlas Genius burst onto the scene with its breakout single “Trojans,” a compact dose of bass propulsion and bouncy guitar that split the diference between jangly and dancey. On its debut LP, the Australian band is still delivering those sort of shoe-shufing head bobbers that are at once crisp and loose, but there are bigger, grander sounds as well, with lush keyboard swells and exultant choruses. Bits and pieces of the last three decades of alt-rock fash by, connecting INXS to the Strokes or the Police to the Killers. Where instrumentation calls for anthemic shouts, vocalist Keith Jefery refrains, instead cozying up to melodies while slinging romantic odes to lovers (“All These Girls,” “Centered on You”). The band keeps a straight face throughout, never fully showing its hand while ofering…

Lil Wayne didn’t intend for his new single, “Love Me,” to grow so quickly after its release in late December. The Mike WiLL Made It-produced track, which features Drake and Future, rises 53-16 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week with 171,000 digital downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, bringing its sales total to 249,000. The success comes mere weeks after YMCMB’s DJ Stevie J and DJ E-Feezy debuted the song at a Miami club. Wayne’s manager and co-CEO of Blueprint Group Cortez Bryant explains that, following the single’s debut, he passed it off to key influencers in radio and clubs. Without much more prompting, PDs began adding “Love Me,” a single off the rapper’s oft-delayed I Am Not a Human Being II, now scheduled for release this spring. “It happened…

His ninth studio set bows with career-high 106,000 Country singer Gary Allan notches his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as Set You Free, his ninth studio album, debuts with 106,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It grants him his best sales week ever, surpassing the 99,000 start of Tough All Over in 2005. Further, Set You Free outpaces the launch of his last studio set, 2010’s Get Of on the Pain (65,000) by 63%. Helping Allan’s cause is his successful single “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain),” which jumps to No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart. It’s his biggest hit at the format since 2004, when “Nothing on but the Radio” spent two weeks atop the list. On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (which combines airplay, sales…

Your second album, Wolf’s Law (No. 51), sold 8,000 in its debut week, your best sales week to date. How aware are you of the growing attention on the band? It’s a great feeling when your fan base is connecting with your new songs, but we’ve always felt the idea of success was creative control and integrity. We made an album that we wanted to make, and don’t feel like we’ve compromised ourselves in any way. Has there been a particular show that made you realize what this band could achieve in the United states? lollapalooza last year. We opened that stage early in the morning and were very happily surprised by the number [of audience members] and the excitement. but it didn’t have to be on a large level—one…

Following a 16-6 surge last week, Shakira makes a mighty leap to the top of the Social 50 chart. The sudden ascension is due to an outpouring of support from online fans, congratulating the Colombian pop star on the birth of her son, Milan. In the 114 weeks Shakira has resided on the Social 50, this is her first at No. 1. Her previous peak at No. 2 occurred in February 2012, after she performed at the NRJ Music Awards in France. The birth was celebrated by fans with an online baby shower campaign through UNICEF, where users logged in through Facebook or Twitter to visit a virtual living room for her and her boyfriend, soccer star Pique. The campaign, which encourages social activation through sharing and donations, helped amplify…

Paramore previews its self-titled fourth album, due April 9, as “Now” vaults onto Hot Rock Songs at No. 16. The track enters Alternative Digital Songs at No. 9 and Rock Digital Songs at No. 11 with 29,000 first-week downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Radio likewise welcomes the band back, as “Now” bows on Rock Airplay at No. 39 with 1.7 million audience impressions on 35 stations, according to Nielsen BDS. The song starts on the Alternative airplay chart as the Greatest Gainer at No. 37. Paramore posted five Alternative top 10s between 2007 and 2010, beginning with the No. 3-peaking “Misery Business,” its top charting entry on the ranking. Cincinnati quartet Walk the Moon logs the second-highest Hot Rock Songs entrance, as “Tightrope” steps in at No. 27. While…

Following a triumphant No. 1 comeback on Hot Latin Songs in October with “Volvi a Nacer,” Carlos Vives returns to the chart’s top 10 as “Como Le Gusta a Tu Cuerpo” vaults 39-8 in its second week on the list. The second single of Corazon Profundo, due April 23, features fellow chart-topping artist Michel Teló, whose “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” reigned on the list for 10 weeks last year. The song’s enormous jump is mostly due to a 171% listener impression gain to 9.3 million, according to Nielsen BDS. The track concurrently enters Latin Airplay at No. 5. On Tropical Airplay, Karlos Rose’s “Infiel” hops 4-1 to mark his second consecutive chart-topper on the list. His debut, “Just the Way You Are,” which converted Bruno Mars’ Billboard Hot 100…

This Week’s Trend Report: Physical vs. Digital Album Sales PHYSICAL VS. DIGITAL SALES FOR LAST 10 ALBUMS TO DEBUT AT NO. 1 ON THE BILLBOARD 200 KEY TO GENRE COUNTRY R& POP ROCK RAP CHRISTIAN 1 TAYLOR SWIFT Red Thanks to creative partnerships with Target, Starbucks, Walgreens and Papa John’s Pizza, Swift’s Red was able to secure a handsome 61% of its first week in physical sales. Her deal with Target was especially lucrative, spurring 396,000 firstweek sales of the album’s exclusive deluxe edition. 2 MUMFORD & SONS Babel Babel netted the then-second-largest digital sales week for an album when it arrived with 420,000 downloads in its first week. Only Lady Gaga’s Born This Way had a larger frame at that point, when it sold 662,000 downloads in its first…

In the year since the sudden passing of Whitney Houston, just 24 hours before the 2012 Grammy Awards, the powerhouse diva has sold more than 2 million albums and 4.3 million tracks, according Nielsen SoundScan. Billboard estimates the revenue going to the Houston estate from recording, publishing and radio airplay to be $3.8 million. ¶ That’s respectable compared with the estimated $4.2 million earned by Kelly Clarkson last year, or the $4.6 million earned by Rihanna, both of whom had the benefit of touring revenue. But industry figures interviewed by Billboard wondered if it could have been more. Houston’s death drove last year’s Grammys to the second-highestrated telecast ever, and prompted an outpouring of public grief. Could the estate and catalog sales have done better? ¶ The strategy of the…

It’s been five years since Sean “Diddy” Combs has had a single in the Billboard Hot 100 top 10, but that hasn’t stopped more than dozen A-list artists from re-creating one of the rap mogul’s biggest hits—his equity partnership with Ciroc, which has earned him more than $100 million since he became the then-struggling Diageo vodka’s brand manager in 2007. In the years since that landmark partnership, many rappers, singers and even country stars have entered the celebrity spirits category— Cee Lo Green (Ty Ku sake), Enrique Iglesias (Atlantico rum), Jay-Z (Ace of Spades Champagne), Pitbull (Voli vodka) and Fergie (Ferguson Crest wine, Voli). Not all of these ventures have been successful. Lil Jon’s attempt at creating his own winery was discontinued in 2011, Jermaine Dupri failed to make soy-based…

WHAT ? Robert F.X. Sillerman is continuing his aggregation of EDM-focused entities with as many as six new acquisitions and alliances under his resurrected SFX Entertainment, with more reportedly set for announcement in the coming months. The new slate includes a joint venture with Dutch promoter ID&T for North American rights to several of its festival brands, said to be a $20 million deal; the acquisition of two Miami nightlife companies, Miami Marketing Group and Opium Group, which control nine venues between them; Hukka Entertainment, which produces Hangout Festival and other large-scale events; and New Orleans festival Voodoo Experience, which while announced by Sillerman could not be confirmed by Billboard. WHY? The flurry of activity is reminiscent of Sillerman’s $2 billion rollup of concert promoters in the ’90s, which he…

In the hours following the 55th Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, the music industry will have dozens of exclusive after-parties to choose from around Los Angeles. One event in particular is using the high-profile nature of Music’s Biggest Night to help children facing birth defects, disfiguring disorders and other ailments. For the second year, Roc Nation and Three Six Zero is hosting a post-Grammy concert at the House of Blues to raise funds for the Children’s Orthopaedic Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In 2012, with the help of donated performances by Rihanna, Deadmau5 and Calvin Harris, the $250-ticket concert raised more than $150,000. This year’s show will feature Deadmau5, Crookers, Nero and other surprise guests. Roc Nation co-founder/president Jay Brown first learned about the needs of Children’s Orthopaedic Center…

Entrepreneurs are forming startups and early-stage funding at record levels, but there’s a lack of later-stage—Series A—funding from institutional venture capital investors. It’s called a “Series A crunch,” and although it’s not confined to just music startups, being involved in music presents an additional set of problems. Simply put, music is doubly dif cult. During the past decade there has been tremendous growth in the number of early-stage investors putting money into startups. Numerous startup accelerators like Y Combinator, TechStars and Bain Capital’s StartUp Academy provide seed money, advice and networking opportunities to young companies. Such celebrity investors as Justin Bieber, Ellen DeGeneres and Ashton Kutcher have put money into technology startups. Cities from obvious (New York) to not so obvious (Bloomington, Ill.) have their own startup incubators. Things took…

“I’m not the kind of guy who makes backups, so if I don’t have my USB stick, I can’t perform.” NAME: Nick van de Wall PROVENANCE: Spijkenisse, the Netherlands GRAMMY AWARD: Best remixed recording, 2011, Madonna’s “Revolver” (with David Guetta) DJ RANKING: No. 9, DJ Mag Top 100 DJ Poll LABEL: Wall Recordings, founded in 2007 NEXT SINGLE: “As Your Friend” featuring Chris Brown UPCOMING DATES: Ultra Music Festival shows in Santiago, Chile (Feb. 13), Buenos Aires (Feb. 23) and Miami (March 15, 22) When Billboard caught up with Afrojack, he was getting ready to play his trademark blend of Dutch house, radio hip-hop and vocal dance music at the Wynn Las Vegas. It was his third set there in the same week—a rare extended stay for the globe-trotting DJ/producer,…

I am not here today to attack the majors, though my views on the perils of consolidation for the market and for the art form we all love remain as strong as ever. And the new Sony Music deal with Pandora illustrates succinctly why we’ve been ringing alarm bells for so long—one company’s scale being leveraged to secure a disproportionately large slice of a relatively fixedsize pie, at the likely expense of smaller companies. But I am here today to agree with the majors—in fact, the majors in all the creative arts. I want to address the lack of support that governments, politicians and bureaucrats worldwide show to the creative industries. Many pay lip service to the value and importance of the creative economy, but most fail to match that…

In 1982, the Los Angeles band Fear released The Record, a pounding document of punk snarl that included such songs as “Let’s Have a War” (“. . . we can hold it in New Jersey!”) and “I Don’t Care About You.” A 13-year-old Dave Grohl heard the album in Evanston, Ill., where his cousin Tracy played it for him. It is, he says, the album that made him want to be a musician. He is relating this story onstage, in Park City, Utah, during the Sundance Film Festival. In fact, Grohl—along with compatriots from Foo Fighters and Nirvana— is backing up the singer of Fear, Lee Ving. It’s the first live performance by Grohl’s Sound City Players—which includes John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and…

FIVE SONGS ARE UP FOR ANACADEMY AWARDIN the best original song category—three of which were written by the composers of the f lm scores, one of which was a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit and another that was a brand-new edition to a 27-year-old musical. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences adjusted its rules this year to ensure that five songs would be competing for the Oscar, yet retained the prior procedure whereby voters saw only the placement of songs as they appear in the films. “Skyfall,” “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” and “Pi’s Lullaby” open their respective films; “Suddenly” is sung toward the end of “Les Misérables”; and “Before My Time” is performed during the end credits of “Chasing Ice.” The range in films is particularly…

Bodega Bamz Lil Wayne stands about 5 feet 6 inches, and Fat Joe once weighed more than 350 pounds, but neither rapper’s name says quite as much about the artist in question as that of Bodega Bamz. The 27-year-old Spanish Harlem native takes the first part of his sobriquet from the Spanish word for that bastion of East Coast ’hood commerce, the corner store, and he likes to say his style has everything you need (like a bodega) and his music has local flavor. (He calls it “Latin trap,” a fusion of hip-hop and salsa elements.) “Since the death of Big Pun, there hasn’t really been a Latino to put us on,” Bamz says. “It’s very important that we get one, whether it be me or somebody else.” Since releasing…

eve “she Bad Bad” (3:04) ProDucer: Jukebox Writers: eve, Jukebox PuBlishers: Blondie rockwell/charlie Pays Me/Dark child songs/eMi Blackwood (BMi) lABel: From the rib Music LEGENd & CrEdItS Edited by Mitchell Peters (albums) and Jason Lipshutz (singles) coNtriButors: chuck Dauphin, David Downs, Phil Gallo, David Greenwald, William Gruger, steven J. horowitz, Jason lipshutz, Jill Menze, Gail Mitchell, Nicole Pajer, Deborah evans Price, ryan reed, lindsey Weber, emily Zemler All albums commercially available in the united states are eligible. send album review copies to Mitchell Peters at Billboard, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., suite 500, los Angeles, cA 90036 and singles review copies to Jason lipshutz at Billboard, 770 Broadway, seventh Floor, New York, NY 10003, or to the writers in the appropriate bureaus After releasing three albums in four years, beginning with 1999’s…

.biz Iconic songwriting/production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis have signed an exclusive worldwide publishing administration agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group. Timbaland has signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. It’s still unclear in what capacity the artist/producer will work with the multifacted label, management company and publishing firm. A No. 1 single and great word-of-mouth are proving to be key drivers for Randy Houser’s Stoney Creek Records debut, How Country Feels, which arrived Jan. 22. A week after the title track hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, the Mississippi native’s album bows at No. 3 on Top Country Albums and No. 11 on the Billboard 200, his highest-charting album on either. The set sold 24,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan, his best sales week ever. Though critically acclaimed,…

Three decades deep in the music biz, veteran punk band Bad Religion set off 2013 by releasing its 16th studio album, True North, Jan. 22 on its own Epitaph label. The set, a sweaty, riotous project that harks back to the group’s rocker roots, bows at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and No. 7 on Rock Albums. 3 MONTHS AGO On July 23, Bad Religion posted on its Facebook page (926,000 fans) a picture of the band in the studio with the message “Here We Go Again,” which racked up almost 20,000 likes. It also went out to its mailing list, which has 100,000 active subscribers. The group kept fans abreast of its progress during the next few months by sharing videoclips from the studio, and held its first…

How did your original solo instrumental track “Funky Vodka” become Pitbull’s “Don’t Stop the Party” (No. 27)? It was released on Beatport [last year] and really hit globally. People all over the world were hitting me up about it. I found out Pitbull heard about it a few months after the release. His vocals were what we needed on top of the track to really make it explode. When did you find out you’d be in the video? I always set the bar low for myself. When I heard back from management that Pit was really into the record, it honestly only connected months later, when I was actually in Miami at the video shoot, in his trailer, drinking vodka and hanging out with his friends: “I was just at…

The now that’s What i Call music! series keeps on chugging along as its latest release, now that’s What i Call love songs, debuts at no. 124 on the billboard 200 with 3,000 sold. (a number certain to grow as Valentine’s day nears.) The 18-song set includes thematically appropriate tunes like train’s “marry me,” bruno mars’ “Just the Way You are” and lady Gaga’s “You and i.” An expanded 40-song version of the album is also exclusively available at itunes. it sells less than 1,000 copies and doesn’t chart. The new album follows 2010’s now that’s What i Call love, which debuted and peaked at no. 32 on Feb. 13, 2010 (16,000 sold in its first week). it has moved 126,000 total. Of the 83 now albums to chart, 39…

Lady Antebellum claims its highest debut on Country Airplay with “Downtown,” starting at No. 25 with spins at 100 of the 125 stations monitored for the chart. That surpasses the trio’s No. 28 debut with “Just a Kiss” on May 21, 2011—it spent two weeks at No. 1 later that summer. The new track introduces the trio’s upcoming, still-untitled fourth studio album. The act most recently reached the summit of Country Airplay in December 2011 with “We Owned the Night,” its sixth No. 1. Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood scores her 17th career top 10 on Country Airplay as “Two Black Cadillacs” steps 11-10 in its 12th chart week. The song continues her streak of consecutive top 10 radio-promoted singles (excluding holiday tracks), which encompasses her entire career output. Each of her…

In only its second week on the list, Lil Wayne’s “Love Me,” featuring Drake and Future, breaks into the top 10 of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, jumping 14-6. The move marks the prolific rapper’s 34th top 10 hit, just one shy of R. Kelly’s Nielsenera record of 35. (The chart began using sales and airplay data from SoundScan and BDS, respectively, in December 1992.) With I Am Not a Human Being II due Feb. 19 and the continuous barrage of Lil Wayne guest appearances, expect the Young Money founder to obtain the record this year. Speaking of Young Money, West Coast signee Tyga posts “Dope,” featuring Rick Ross, at No. 19 on the list thanks in part to 60,000 first-week downloads, according to SoundScan. The bouncy track samples Dr. Dre and…

Swedish female duo Icona Pop jumps into the top 10 of Dance/Electronic Songs (12-10) with “I Love It,” featuring Charli XCX, a former No. 1 on the Sweden Digital Songs chart last summer. The track, among the entries on the soundtrack to HBO’s “Girls,” shifts 9,000 downloads (up 110%) and is the chart's Digital Gainer. “Love” was showcased in the show’s Jan. 27 episode during a drug-filled club scene featuring Golden Globe winner Lena Dunham’s character Hannah. With the show’s airing taking place with just a scant few hours left in the Nielsen SoundScan tracking week, expect an even larger sales bump in the next issue. Taking the Hot Shot Debut slot on Dance/Electronic Songs at No. 16 is EDM stalwart Avicii with “I Could Be the One” vs. Nicky…

Kombo Kolombia was big—15 or 16 men strong—but still far from mighty. The 3-year-old band had gained a following in its home base of Monterrey in Northern Mexico, near the Texas border, with its brand of norteño-infused Colombian cumbia, but the band was far from a household name, even in Mexico itself. That changed on Jan. 26, when 18 band and staf members were kidnapped while playing a private show at a warehouse in the countryside, blindfolded and driven away at gunpoint. The next day, the horror unfolded, as one after another, their bodies were pulled from a remote well. They’d been shot, execution style. That a group of such modest renown, without a label, radio hit or an album to its name, would be murdered in such a methodical…

Third major publisher to seek direct licensing deals with Pandora, others On the heels of Sony/ATV and EMI striking their own deals to directly license their music to Pandora, Universal Music Group has also notified ASCAP and BMI that it too will no longer rely on the two performance rights organizations to negotiate digital performance licenses and royalty rates. In addition, sources say that BMG Chrysalis has also negotiated the option to withhold its digital performance rights from ASCAP and BMI, but it has yet to decide if it will actually use a direct-deal strategy. Sony/ATV has just completed negotiations with Pandora on its own behalf and for the EMI Music Publishing catalog, which it administers and which, sources say, yielded a 25% increase Since Pandora was paying music publishers…

RECORD COMPANIES Ron Fair has returned to the record-label business. In his new role as chief creative officer/executive VP of Virgin Records, the major-label veteran and producer will work alongside recently hired GM Ashley Burns (left, with Fair) to build an approximately 12-person A&R/marketing team and sign artists across all contemporary music genres. “It’s going to be the rebirth of a great brand without the shackles of the past,” says Fair, who reports to Capitol Music Group chairman/CEO Steve Barnett. Virgin will be housed on the 12th floor of Hollywood’s Capitol Tower and include a recording studio, Fair says, noting that positions are open for A&R representatives and assistants. The label’s debut release will be a new album by 30 Seconds to Mars this spring. Fair’s most recent role as…

Sales of Latin music plummeted 21.2% in 2012 compared with 2011, going from 11.8 million units to 9.8 million. Sales of Latin digital tracks grew, but not by much—they went from 10.6 million downloads in 2011 to 21 million in 2012, a paltry 2.1% rise compared with the 9% increase registered overall. These numbers, of course, don’t take into account other Latin music revenue streams that have shown signif cant gains, including streaming services. But CD sales are still a centerpiece of a healthy music business, and their steady and relentless decline is a major cause for concern. Latin suf ers from issues that are particular to the genre: The disappearance of retailers like Ritmo Latino, the largest Latin music retail chain, which shuttered in 2010; the disappearance of mom-and-pop…

Grammy Day From sunrise to sundown, how nominees and executives are gearing up for music’s biggest night WAKE-UP CALL “Find the nearest Starbucks.”—Hunter Hayes, nominated for best new artist, best country album and best country solo performance “I’ll probably get ready way too early and wait by the door like a freakin’ dog.” —Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, nominated for best hard rock/metal performance “Stick to the fundamentals: Take a piss, eat breakfast, exercise and try not to freak out.” —James Valentine of Maroon 5, nominated for best pop/duo performance and best pop vocal album ARM CANDY “I would’ve taken my girl [Ali Tamposi, song of the year nominee for co-writing the Kelly Clarkson hit “Stronger”], but she’s taking her mom, so I’ll just hang with my boys.” —James Valentine “I’m…

After a six-hour fight, a layover in Zurich and another two-hour fight, followed by a 40-minute drive, my shuttle pulls up to the old Carlton hotel along the Croisette, the main drag of Cannes along the French Riviera. As I am accustomed to experiencing, a line of paparazzi and hyperkinetic teenagers line the Carlton’s front drive, craning their necks and jostling for position as I step out of the car. And, as I am also accustomed, there is a collective sigh of disappointment when they see it is me. One of the strange things about MIDEM—and there are plenty of eccentricities to being in Cannes in January— is that the music business’ largest conference occurs at the same time, in the same town and even, ultimately, in opposite halves of…

By Andrew Hampp and Lars Brandle MUSIC’S NEXT REVENUE STREAM: MO The music business was valued at $23.3 billion worldwide in 2011, compared with $36.7 billion in 1999, according to IFPI’s annual report. But it could still become a $100 billion business by 2020 if all the technology platforms that leverage music begin to create new revenue models that share some of their wealth with the industry. The New Music Seminar presented a panel, “Building the $100 Billion Music Business,” that addressed this exact issue. Moderator Tom Silverman, CEO of Tommy Boy, shared one possible scenario for the music industry to achieve its full revenue potential: “If we could just get $1 a month paid by mobile music providers from even half the mobile phones out there now, we could…

“Sound City” opened in 54 cities in the united States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand for a one-night screening on Jan. 31, plays a single night in two cities on feb. 1, then starts weeklong runs in a dozen cities, eventually adding screenings at several venues later in february. Simultaneously, the film will be available on iTunes with DVDs and Blu-rays due in mid-March, tying in with RCA’s March 15 release of the soundtrack. Variance films, which has released about three dozen films in its four-year history, is handling theatrical. Gravitas Ventures, one of the largest video-on-demand (VOD) companies, is making “Sound City” its first release of 2013. Director Dave Grohl and the producers hold the rights to sell it directly to fans online. “I don’t really know anything about…

The Highway, the latest album from Holly Williams, out Feb. 5 on her own Georgiana imprint, details her family history. But not the family you’re probably thinking of. Holly, daughter of Hank Williams Jr. and granddaughter of Hank Williams, delves into the other side of her family tree on this release. “I’ve done about six to eight shows with this album, and the No. 1 request is ‘Waitin’ on June,’” she says of the fnal track on the set, a tribute to her grandparents on her mother Becky’s side. “It’s the story of them. I got into my grandfather’s shoes to write that one. That’s the closest song to my heart .” Williams’ music is often discussed in the shadow of her grandfather’s legacy. But as she explains, her maternal…

Even in the digital age, oceans can sometimes seem like insurmountable barriers. But Oxford, England, alt-rock quintet Foals are hoping that good music— and good marketing—know no bounds. The group found success in its home country with its 2008 debut, Antidotes, and 2010 follow-up Total Life Forever, but the seeds were planted for success stateside. The latter disc, which had a delayed release in the United States on Sub Pop, was heavily pirated in the States, encouraging Warner Bros. to pick up the band and unveil its new third album, Holy Fire, in the States on Feb. 11, the same day as Warner Bros. U.K.’s release. The album is preceded by first single “Inhaler,” a buoyant number that sidesteps the band’s earlier sound and gives new fans something to grab…

One of the more sophisticated music accompaniment filters on the market, the new Strum app turns any 15-second clip into a short music video—and the effect can be cute or blood-curdling, depending on the source material. Released in December by San Francisco app maker Smule, Strum is free and requires, at minimum, iOS 6.0 running on iPhone 4, iPod touch 4, iPad 2 or iPad mini. The user interface is impeccably clean, simple and intuitive: shoot a quick video, add an audiovisual filter from 16 presets, then share through Facebook, Twitter, email or Smule’s new social backend Smule Nation. This digital pocket bauble, which has about 1 million installs, takes some time to wrap one’s head around—for example, a Strum of two adults talking in a meeting yields regret. However,…

After an eight-month hiatus, the Lonely Island returned to NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” on Jan. 26. The comedy troupe appeared in a digital short with its music video for “Yolo,” featuring host Adam Levine and musical guest Kendrick Lamar. The ensemble’s overly cautious interpretation of the slang phrase’s intended meaning, “You only live once,” triggered a wave of social and sales reaction. 9K “Yolo,” released as a digital single on Sunday, Jan. 27, sold 9,000 downloads in less than a day (according to Nielsen SoundScan), debuting at No. 1 on Comedy Digital Songs (see page 50). Label sources suggest it could sell 90,000-100,000 in its first full week of availability (week ending Feb. 3). 304% 13.3m The “Yolo” music video accumulated 7.9 million views in its first two days of…

Maria’s Good ‘Karma’ Could Kristina Maria be this year’s Carly Rae Jepsen? After the latter transformed her Billboard Canadian Hot 100 No. 1 “Call Me Maybe” into a nine-week reign on the U.S. counterpart last year, Ottawa-born Maria is similarly seeking to cross the border with the pure-pop single “Karma” (LupoOne). CFLZ Buffalo, N.Y. (which often champions Canadian acts) played the song 61 times during the Jan. 21-27 Nielsen BDS tracking week. The cut jumps 23-17 on Canada CHR/Top 40, marking her fourth top 20 entry on the chart dating to her first in 2011. ‘Down’ With Odell Having won the 2013 BRITs Critics’ Choice Award in December, singer/songwriter Tom Odell is having a breakthrough moment. Signed to ITNO/Columbia Records in his native United Kingdom, the 22-year-old just wrapped his…

Almost exactly one year after the Lumineers’ single “Ho Hey” was commercially released (Feb. 15, 2012), the band continues to climb the Billboard 200. This week, the trio’s self-titled release hits a new peak, rising five spots to No. 2 with 50,000 sold (up 31%). The sales gain follows the band’s appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (Jan. 19). The album’s cumulative sales concurrently rise to 869,000. It’s the set’s fourth-largest sales week, and its biggest outside of a holiday frame. It moved more than 50,000 in the three weeks that surrounded Christmas 2012. The album should sail past the 1 million sales mark in the next few weeks, as the group will play the Grammy Awards (Feb. 10), where it is up for best new artist and best Americana…

Will.i.am and Britney Spears soar into the Hot 100 Airplay’s top 10 with “Scream & Shout,” which lifts 12-9. The song scores a 19% gain to 73 million in all-format audience, according to Nielsen BDS. The track—which pushes 6-5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and leads Dance/Electronic Songs for a third week—marks Will.i.am’s first Hot 100 Airplay top 10 as a lead act and second overall following his seven-week reign in 2010 as a featured artist on Usher’s “OMG.” (He’s tallied seven Hot 100 Airplay top 10s with the Black Eyed Peas.) Spears, meanwhile, collects her 12th top 10 on Hot 100 Airplay (which launched as a BDS-based chart the week of Dec. 1, 1990). She first reached the region in 1999 with her introductory hit “. . . Baby…

As he tops the Billboard 200 for the first time with Set You Free (see page 42), Gary Allan returns to the top of Hot Country Songs with “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)” (2-1). The song marks his fourth country No. 1 and first since “Nothing on but the Radio” topped the chart for two weeks in December 2004. He first reached the summit with “Man to Man” and “Tough Little Boys” in 2003. Allan’s return to the top places him among heady company when it comes to acts that have received such warm welcomes at country radio after lengthy absences from No. 1. His eight-year, two-month gap between leaders represents the sixth-greatest since Hot Country Songs adopted Nielsen Music data the week of Jan. 20, 1990. Alabama holds…

Some 52 years after debuting on the Billboard charts, Aaron Neville notches his first top 10 album—and highest-charting set ever—on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. My True Story (Blue Note) opens at No. 7 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at No. 3 on R&B Albums with 9,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Neville first appeared on a Billboard tally in 1960 when when “Over You” peaked at No. 21 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (then called Hot R&B Sides). The New Orleans singer’s latest album is a covers collection of 12 doo-wop ditties he grew up singing, produced by Blue Note Records president Don Was and the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. Blue Note is also responsible for the No. 7 debut on R&B Albums, Jose James’ No Beginning No End. The Minneapolis-born crooner is…

George Strait has launched his final major concert touring effort, dubbed the Cowboy Rides Away, with shows booked at U.S. arenas during the first four months of the year. The tour began, appropriately enough, in the native Texan’s home state on Jan. 18 in Lubbock, followed the next evening by Oklahoma City. The first two dates are included on this week’s Boxscore chart, ranked at Nos. 3 and 4, with sellout crowds reported in both cities. Martina McBride will support Strait on tour this year, just as she did for his 10-city trek in 2012 that grossed more than $9.5 million. The current outing is booked through April 13, but will resume next year and eventually wrap after a final string of shows in 2014. Justin Bieber tops the Boxscore…